Clearest Blue
by Yaksamillion
Summary: After an encounter at the local pool, Grimmjow and Ichigo begin completing a bucket list from a notebook Ichigo found in the trash. Little do they know that by completing each task, they begin to understand the secrets of each other's lives and of their own families.
1. Prologue

**I do not own the rights to Bleach or the characters** **, onward.**

* * *

-Prologue-

* * *

 _Come on sugar, come_

 _I really don't want to go home_

 _Stay with me, be a friend_

 _These streets so cold and my mind is full of goals_

Blue eyes watched as thick globs of rain fell from the sky, bombing the concrete of the darkened street on the other side of his bedroom window. Grimmjow had been awoken from the storm; the rain pelting his window like kamikaze birds. He had been watching the storm for possibly hours as puddles grew and streams of water ran down into the storm drains. It had been an odd beginning of summer in Karakura, there would be days like today where it would monsoon then the following day they would be experiencing a humid drought. You were either soaked from sweat or rain, Grimmjow preferred the rain; at least it didn't make him smell like sweat.

Passing a hand through his unruly blue hair he sighed as he went over to the small wooden desk that sat opposite of his bed. His hair had grown long again, he hadn't decided if he was going to cut it or let it grow yet. Pulling out the chair that grounded against the floor making him squint a bit and shoot a worried look to his bedroom door. The last thing he wanted was his mother coming in and yelling down his throat to go back to sleep. Weather seemed to be covering his back, as the rain appeared to just pour down all of a sudden filling his entire room with the dripping sound of rain. He didn't give a shit what anyone says; Mother Nature was a true homie.

Taking out his small journal that he kept stashed under a few magazines and the odd textbook, he flipped through the pages until he found a blank one. It would be the absolute death of him if anyone found out that he kept a journal – he had a reputation to maintain after all, who else was going to be the class delinquent? Well in all honesty he had only received such a bad rep cause he had pounded the snot out of the one kid who had decided to poke fun at his hair colour – some guy named Shinji. He had knocked a few black keys into the man's piano faced grin. That was the story of how he also became friends/rivals/whatever the fuck you want to call it with this emo kid naked Ulquiorra Cifer.

He was really good at making friends and fighting. But the pair didn't seem to go hand in hand in Karakura; if you hit someone you are an asshole that also doesn't know shit. That's what these people thought of him, except Ulquiorra, Grimmjow didn't know what the fuck that kid was thinking about half the time.

Biting down on the pen he turned on the small desk light, his eyes shooting to the door as he strained his hearing. Nothing. He was in the clear. Twirling the pen between his long fingers as he wracked his head trying to think of something to write about. He'd begin with the date.

 _July 10_

 _It's two-thirty in the morning and it's raining like a motherfucker outside, this summer is off to an excellent start._

Grimmjow looked down to snicker at the sarcastic tone in his writing. Though it was more chicken scratch than actual writing, probably a defence mechanism so nobody would know how much of a pussy he was for writing his daily thoughts in a fucking journal. His school counsellor – a man that reeked of saki and dressed like a total hippy – Shunsui had told him to write in it whenever he could. He had taken it after calling the man a vagina and offering a deal with him; if he didn't smell like saki ever again he would write in the journal. The man didn't keep up his end of the bargain.

 _I was planning on going swimming at the local pool today, but it doesn't seem like that's going to happen. Though Mother N. has been a main bitch today, so maybe the sun will come out. I don' know, is that asking too much? Don' get me wrong, I'm not trying ta keep active or anything, just trying ta avoid mum. Nothing against her, its just she's been a real asshole lately – always prying in my life trying ta get me out of the house._

 _Summer classes just ended don' I deserve at least a small break? Instead she's been ridin' my dick telling me to seize this summer cuz supposedly I'm gettin' a job next one. See she's an asshole! There are probably laws against forcing your adopted son ta do shit._

He winced at the last part; he didn't like pulling the adoptive card on his folks, even if it was on paper. He was more than grateful when they had pulled him out of the foster system at the age of five – no parents seemed to have wanted a blue haired runt with a strange birth mark on his right cheek. He was even more grateful when they had moved out of Hiroshima and to Karakura for a fresh start.

 _I don't blame her though; I am a lazy sack of shit._

He chuckled a little louder this time as Mother N. had his back. The door swung open making Grimmjow damn near shit his pants as he quickly pulled a comic book over the journal. His mum could murder him but he would prolong her from finding his journal. He had written some nasty shit in there after all. Instead of his mother's figure in his doorway stood a man with glasses that were starting to slide down his face and bubblegum pink hair. Szayel Aporro; his older brother.

Grimmjow still didn't know where he stood with Szayel; the guy had been trouble for his parents for as far back as Grimmjow could remember. The man had been caught selling dope on the occasion – though since their mom was a cop he'd always get away with it, "what the fuck are you doing up blue?"

"Reading. What does it look like?" Grimmjow responded a scowl crossing his face. Though he was only a few years older than Grimmjow, he always acted so high and mighty around him, "why are you up so late?"

The man only giggled as he pointed at the comic book, "only pussy's keep journals."

Grimmjow's face went beet red as he looked down to see that not his entire journal had been covered by the comic book, "fuck you."

"Hahaha, goodnight pussy," Szayel laughed as he walked away closing Grimmjow's door behind him. A thud was heard down the hallway accompanied by a few swears, he was probably stoned and had walked into a wall. Served him right.

 _Well so much for keeping this thing a secret. If I'm lucky he'll either keep his mouth shut or forget all about this by tomorrow._

 _I really want to go swimming now._

Feeling his face get heavy, Grimmjow shut the journal deciding that he'd finished his entry tomorrow when it wasn't the middle of the night. That and when he got back from the pool so he'd actually have something to fucking talk about. Hiding the logbook under some comics he turned off his light and pushed out from his chair walking over to his small bed, collapsing on top of it. The rain sounded like a metronome at this point, a steady rhythm to fall asleep too. Heavy eyelids closed as Grimmjow entered into a dreamless slumber – the rain stopping somewhere between his heavy breathing and the smile that drew on his sleeping face.

 _Seize the summer; what the fuck does that even mean?_

* * *

He let out a loud sigh as he walked down the damp sidewalk of one of the side streets of Karakura, a sullen scowl finding its place on his face. Summer had only just begun and it was turning out of be a miserable one. The weather was either too muggy or too wet to do anything. Ichigo was hoping that it would be one of those days where it was overcast threatening the inhabitants of Karakura with more rain. The only good thing that had come out of this was that his noisy neighbour hadn't had a chance to start his gardening. There was just something obnoxious about the man's rose bushes.

In all honesty, he had been hoping for the public pool to be closed today. It had only been two and a half weeks since school had let out and he was already bored of the chlorine water. It stung his eyes. That and Ichigo was prone to swallowing water on accident, he couldn't count how many times he had wanted to vomit after taking a mouth full of water the general public shared. He swore that his throat had gotten swimmer's itch.

Tightening his grip on the gym bag that was swung over his shoulder, he kept his head down as he crossed the road taking another street that would lead him to his destination. A sudden buzzing from his left leg pocket startled him as his face did a weird flinch. Hoping to God that nobody had been around to see him have a spaz-attack he pulled out his cell, touching the green phone symbol on the touch screen to answer the call.

"Hello?"

"Kurosaki-kun!" a shrill shriek came from the other end making Ichigo move the phone away from his ear. He knew the sound of that voice anywhere, "what are you up to right now?"

"Heading to the pool."

"Hmmm, would you rather spend the day with Tatsuki and I?" Orihime bubbly asked. Ichigo didn't know what to make of the girl, she was annoying but kept things entertaining with her sporadic conversations and crazy ideas.

"No, not really."

"What did he say?" another voice came from the background, possibly Tatsuki. How did they even get his number? Some shuffling was heard before Orihime spoke again, "he said no."

"Give the phone to me," Tatsuki spoke as the mobile device was handed to the other girl. He had known Tatsuki since he was young, so the girl didn't really bother him and at least he had a clear idea of how he felt about her, unlike the other girl, "hey shit head, come hang out with Ori and I."

"Fuck you," Ichigo responded in a playful manner.

"In your wildest dreams," she responded a little laugh escaping her, "come on Ichi! Why not?"

"I'm heading to the pool. Your place is on the other side of town. It's an inconvenience for me. Do you want me to make a list for you?" Ichigo responded as he stopped at a four-way letting the cars go before he crossed the street.

"Because you are going to do so much at the pool!" the girl teased, Ichigo avoiding a crow that had just landed to make feast of the spilt garbage he had passed, "I thought you said you hated chlorine."

Ichigo hopped over a large puddle, worms drowning in the brown water, as they had been unable to escape the monsoon. Swinging around the corner he could see the community center in the distant, a few people already gathered in the outside pool, "I do. I hate the smell of it. And I especially hate the taste of it. I'm still going to the pool though."

"Why the hell are you so adamant on going to the pool?"

"I felt like swimming today."

"Whatever, there is obviously no point trying to change your mind."

"Nope."

"We are going to hangout by the end of the summer though," Tatsuki said as she hung up, leaving no room for Ichigo to protest. She had made it sound like it was a promise, Tatsuki usually kept her promises.

Putting the phone back into his pocket he looked down at the sidewalk where something caught his eye. Sitting in a blue recycling bin, a dry notebook was on top of soaked stacked newspapers. It wasn't very large and could probably fit into his hand. Black cardboard like material held together faded yellowish papers. A beach scene drawn in gold on the cover; at least he assumed it was a beach as there was water waving on the sand and those hump birds people draw when they are too lazy to draw the actual thing.

He picked it up turning it over in his hand. Brown copper rings holding everything together as binding while a strap sealed the contents from being revealed. What had drawn his eyes in the first place however was the bold gold writing that took up the centre of the cover. It was a saying that he had never seen before but somehow resonated within him. It meant something to him.

 _In life we must find the magic to make our souls soar_.

It was probably from a book that he had never read before. For some reason he got the impression that it was Shakespearian? Though that could just be because he thought everything that had to do with fancy writing somehow derived from Shakespeare. He should probably pay more attention to English class next year. Opening the notebook he was surprised to see that much of the pages had been doodle in revealing spectacular scenes in black ink.

There was a drawing of Calvin and Hobbes looking up into the star with a bold number one drawn between them. Flipping over the next page; scenery filled both sides of the pages, black ink drawing an old wooden train track, the number two drawn on one of the wooden posts. Furrowing his brow Ichigo turned to the next page, this one again drawn as a scenery; the public pool at night, the fence that was usually locked opened wide while a large three was drawn in the water.

He begun to skim through a few pages all revealing something different; an animated burger with eyes that had three patty stacks and the number seven on a toothpick shoved in the top bun. A Japanese maple tree, branches barren of leaves and replaced by shoes, a number six drawn in the branches as an illusion possibly? A picture of Totoro spray-painting the number four on a wall, two Hello Kittys kissing – nine, outlandish cartoon sticks dancing around a bonfire the flames forming an eleven in the air.

Ichigo finally came to a stop near the middle of the notebook, bold letters spelling out **Infinite Playlist** on the top centre of the page. A list of numbers and instructions written beside them filling the rest of the page, he kept going until reaching some of the neatest writing he had ever seen that gave an explanation of the list.

 _This is your_ _ **Infinite Playlist**_ _, complete the desired tasks and throw away the journal to be found by another. Do not cross out what you have done. There is no time limit. Have fun._

 _-Anonymous_

Ichigo looked down at the book giving another scowl. This must be a joke. Someone at school wanted to fuck with him, though he just couldn't think of who would go through so much detail to fuck with him. He had to say that both the drawings and penmanship was exquisite. Though the fact it had been placed in the recycling must have meant something? Maybe this notebook was like that _Jumanji_ movie? It was just waiting to ruin his life.

Looking up and down the street he was on, checking to see the person who had obviously left it for him to find it. Seeing no one, he looked back down at the notebook. If he had half a brain he'd throw the thing away, it would eventually fade out of his mind that he had found it and he could continue his boring summer. Then again his summer was _boring_.

He packed the notebook in his gym bag, deciding that he would settle with what to do with the thing when he was finished at the pool. Continuing his quest, Ichigo walked towards the pool, wanting to get over this visit as painlessly as possible.

* * *

 **Review?**


	2. Pissing in Pools

**Hey folks, I did a double post for this fic. Hooray! Enjoy~**

* * *

-Pissing in Pools-

* * *

 _Come on sugar, come_

 _I really don't want to go home_

 _Stay with me, be a friend_

 _These streets so cold and my mind is full of goals_

He awoke when a stray beam of sunlight had begun to heat up his exposed calf. Opening one bleary blue eye after the other, wincing when the sunlight burned his retinas a little. It was too bright for so early in the morning. Yes 10:27am is early. Pulling the covers over his head and curling his legs inward to make a ball, Grimmjow lay motionless not wanting the day to begin just yet.

After about seven minutes of trying to fall back into a comfortable dream state, he threw the bed sheets down to his feet. It was clear that trying to return to his sleep was completely futile, that and it would be muggy-hot in his room in a few minutes. That _and_ his nagging mum would be on his ass if he didn't get moving soon. Swinging his legs over his bed, Grimmjow picked up a tanktop that had been thrown onto a growing pile of dirty laundry. Walking out into the hallway that lead to the living room and kitchen he was surprised to hear a few pots clang.

Stepping out of the dark hallway the first thing that caught his attention was the TV replaying the highlights of last night's baseball game. A man with shoulder length brown hair sat lazily on the sofa, grey eyes looking unimpressed as always. The man nodded when he saw him before standing up and going down the hall, Grimmjow's eyes trailing after him. Sometimes he didn't know what to make of his dad – Coyote Starrk – from what mum told him, dad had once been a happy and beautiful man.

Somewhere along that time though life had taken its toll on him and had worn down his face. He wasn't as expressive around Grimmjow, the longest conversations they would have lasted ten minutes at the max. It was awkward. He was hard to understand. His adoptive dad made him uncomfortably unwelcome. But he loved the lazy man. He just didn't understand him. It was complicated.

"Good morning sweetie."

Grimmjow turned his head to where a glowing vibrant face held a perplexed stare as brows furrowed and emerald green eyes scanned a cookbook. Tia Harribel-Starrk. Adoptive mum. Beautiful in every way, her body something out of a fifty's burlesque show. An uneven blonde short haircut with long hair put into a ponytail at the back. Her smile always warm and always loving, Grimmjow's thoughts were never complicated when it came to his adoptive mum. She would always answer all his question, even if it were about dad.

" _I don' understand him," Grimmjow would sometimes say after having an uncomfortable exchange with his dad, usually about music. It seemed to be the only topic his dad could carry for more than five minutes._

 _"Maybe he doesn't understand you?"_

 _"Why wouldn't he understand me?"_

 _She would look in Grimmjow's eyes her beautiful captivating smile filled with all the kindness of a saint. She was glamorous, he loved her, he loved his dad; he just didn't understand his dad. And she would answer, "because you my blue panther are one of the unsolvable mysteries of this world."_

 _"Are you teasing me?"_

 _"Never."_

 _"Do ya love him?" Grimmjow would ask, only on a rare occasion. He didn't see his dad and mum show outward affection to each other. Was love always meant to be shown outward? Another mystery of the universe a sixteen year old couldn't wrap his head around._

 _"Always," she'd answer with all the confidence in the world. Her face never losing that kindness she wasn't afraid to share with others._

 _"Yeah, I thought so. Do ya understand him?"_

 _"Not always. He's a complicated man. But I don't need to."_

 _"Why?"_

 _"Cause he understands me."_

 _Grimmjow would furrow his brows at this answer. Love really was one of the universe's greatest anonymities bestowed to humans and possibly animals, "I don' like that answer."_

Grabbing his cereal and some milk, Grimmjow took his spot across from her at the island, studying her as she scribbled in the cookbook. In all honesty she was a terrible cook but no one had the heart to tell her that, and he would definitely not be the one to break it to her, "whatcha makin'?"

"Enchiladas possibly," she responded not looking up from the book as she flipped the page scrutinizing a new recipe, "I thought they would be a little easier to make. I guess I was wrong."

"Who are you makin' them for?" a blue eyebrow raised, he didn't know many Japanese people who liked to eat Mexican food.

"It's for a pot luck. One of the officers recommended that we do it. Made us all draw straws to choose a different country, the bastard."

It was very rare for him to hear his mother swear, it sounded foreign whenever she cussed. A shit-eating grin grew on his face thinking of ways that he could use this opportunity to tease his mother, "why not make tacos?"

"Thought about it. Wanted to try something different."

"What! Why? Tacos are the shit!"

Emerald green eyes shot up to give him a warning glance. The reason why she never swore was because she absolutely hated it, "watch your fucking language."

That earned a candid laugh from Grimmjow making him choke a bit on his cereal. His mum even cracked a half smile, trying to hide the fact that she wanted to bust a gut. Closing the book, she leaned forward rubbing her eyes letting out an exhausted sigh. The possibility of having to cook stressing her out, "maybe I can just make a Mexican pizza?"

"What goes on a Mexican pizza?" Grimmjow did have to admit that his mum knew how to make a wicked homemade pizza. If she didn't have time to cook a pizza, she knew all the best pizza places in Karakura, he didn't think that he'd once had a shitty pizza.

"I'm not even sure that there is such thing as a Mexican pizza."

"It sounds like it'd be good."

"It actually does, maybe I'll Google it…" she trailed off rubbing her eyes again. Grimmjow finished his cereal and was in the process of drinking his milk from the bowl, ignoring the chid of 'bad manners' from his mum. When he was done he placed his bowl in the new dishwasher they had just purchased, "so what are you up to today my little blue haired menace?"

"I'm going to the pool."

"I didn't even know you could swim."

"I can, but I don't really do laps. I mostly just sit in the water," he explained as he sat back down at the island, not really ready for the day to actually start.

"Well it is supposed to be a hot one today."

"Muggy-hot or heat-hot?"

"I don't think it really matters since you are going to the pool. Just be sure to wear sunscreen," a glob of grey fur suddenly hopped up on to the table. Grimmjow turned to meet a sour looking feline face as faded orange eyes – that seemed to be looking in different directions – starred him down. Pantera was a fat grey cat whose face looked like it had run into a door several times it was so flat. It had followed him home from school when he was six; his dad had taken one look at the cat and said he could keep it. Though Grimmjow was pretty sure that the thing was coming to the end of its life.

"Get that thing off the table please," his mom however did not agree to keep the cat. Deep down she probably tolerated it, but that was very deep down.

"He doesn't listen to me any more," Grimmjow responded as he scratched the cat's ears earning an ugly purring sound. Pantera released its trademark disgusting meows, which just makes the hairs down a guys back stick up, "I think Szayel has been feeding him margarine and peanut butter again."

"Ughh," his mother responded giving a disgruntled look at the cat, "just take him outside with you. Let him chase birds or something. Lord knows he's coming to an end."

The cat gave another meow; as if in protest possibly. It's only a possible that it was looking at her because one eye was already on her while the other one was looking at Grimmjow, "I don' think he likes when you say that."

"He's a cat I don't think he appreciates us."

"Probably not."

Grimmjow got out of his chair and headed back to his room, scratching the back of his head as he gave a semi tired yawn. When he was back in his room, he stripped out of the tanktop and his boxers and began to rummage through his dressers looking for something to wear. Pulling out what he hoped was a clean white V-neck shirt and some simple blue shorts; he then grabbed his swim trunks and shoved them into his bag. Walking out of his room he went to the closet beside the bathroom door, which held most of the linens and towels. Picking a fresh beach towel he then shoved it as well in his bag, heading back to the kitchen.

Walking in on a scene where his mum and cat were in the midst of some sort of starring contest. Picking up Pantera – the heavy shit, looks like he's been eating more than just fake butter – and shouting a goodbye over his shoulder he headed outside to where the sun was blaring down making the air feel thick. Looks like it was going to be one of those muggy-hot days. Dropping the cat which landed in a fat thud, he watched as Pantera took off somewhere in the bushes, probably off to chase a squirrel or a bird.

The pool was only a fifteen-minute walk away from his house so it often didn't take him that long to get there. The journey was usually shorter because he would preoccupy himself with singing a song that he had stuck in his head or playing weird hoping games. What could he say? He was a strange little shit. If anyone asked or tried to make fun he could just say he had a behavioural disorder after growing up in the foster system. That made people leave him alone.

It took him less than expected after repeating the chorus to 4 Non Blondes' _What's Going On_ about seven times, as that was the only part of the song he really knew. It also helped that an empty can had been helping him work on his soccer skills as he kicked it down the street. When he reached the pool he recognized the girl who was working the front desk. A petite girl with violet eyes and black hair that was cut into a bob like style that he had seen running around his high school. He couldn't remember the name of her for the life of him.

Though giving the look she gave him – that of recognition but not knowing what your name was – she was probably in the same boat. She buzzed Grimmjow in to the changing rooms not really caring about his name anymore as she looked down at whatever she was possibly reading. Stepping into the locker room he quickly changed and headed to the shower, dodging to young naked boys that were screaming at the top of their lungs as one tried to whip the other with a wet towel.

Walking out of the changing room he was then blasted by hot sticky air and bright sunshine. It was so humid out that his nose felt like it could start bleeding any moment. Instead of wasting any more precious time he hoped in the pool, pressing down on his swim shorts as they ballooned up a bit. Embarrassing, but no one seemed to have noticed.

Grimmjow had perfected his technique of floating around in the pool. He didn't come to the pool to swim laps or splash around with friends like the jocks or the grating group of girls; he just floated. Chest up he starfished around the pool, enjoying the slightest breeze on his stomach while the water cooled him as the burning sun cooked him. Sometimes he would almost fall asleep as he closed his eyes enjoying how water made voices sound while his ears were underwater. Sometimes he would stare into the sky and think of the bigger questions in the world. What was after this life? Will I ever find my path in life? What am I doing here? What's for supper tonight?

He had been floating for sometime when he bumped his head against something. He would usually do this as he had floated into a wall or the occasional person. Standing up he opened his eyes – a tint of blue making him squint for a second – as he spun around to see what he had knocked into. A leg. Furrowing his brows he followed the leg up a leath body, hands gripping the edge of the pool rim, to a scowling face.

It wasn't a nasty scowl but more of a surprised scowl, if that was even possible. Thin lips held in a firm line perhaps debating whether to say something or not. Orange hair that reminded Grimmjow of maple leaves in the autumn before they turned red. It looked soft but sharp. Melting honey coloured eyes focused on Grimmjow analyzing him like he was analyzing them. The boy's eyes held so many things in them: anger, fear, content, malice, love, hate, but mostly sorrow and wonder. They looked like they were searching for the answers of the universe. The boy was beautiful.

Grimmjow stopped his thoughts dead in the track. No boy was _beautiful_. His mum was beautiful not some ginger haired sour puss who came to the pool to sit on the edge and not swim. That still didn't stop his fingers from tingling as all they wanted to do was run through the guy's hair. Would he be set on fire if he brushed through every strand? A blush spread across the guy's face revealing the smallest dustings of what appeared to be freckles. That was when Grimmjow realized that he had been staring for too long. Scrambling his brain to regain his thoughts. Christ he was not thinking about running his hand through a guy's hair right now.

"Sup?" the only possible thing he could think of coming to his tongue. Did he feel like an idiot? Most definitely, but it was too late to retract what had just left his mouth. The boy gave a startled look making his blush turn a bit deeper, "sorry for bumping into ya like that, I sometimes forget where I am."

"It's uhh…okay," the boy responded in a flustered voice. Looking away from Grimmjow for a second before meeting his gaze again, "I guess it's better that you bumped your head into my leg than the concrete?"

"Definitely," Grimmjow agreed with a nod before pushing his hair back from his face, he wasn't a fan when wet hair touched his forehead, "thanks for not being a bitch about it to."

"No problem," the boy gave a little chuckle, his legs kicking in the water a bit possibly out of nervousness. Wait; was he making this boy nervous? "Grimmjow Jaegerjaques right?"

"Yes…" his eyes lit up in shock at how the boy pronounced his name perfectly on the first try. Not many people bothered to try and get his name right, usually just resorting to calling him Grimm. Teachers and parents he could handle out of 'respect', but it would irritate him when his peers wouldn't even try.

"You're the guy who punched Shinji Hirako in the face?"

"Yeah that's me," Grimmjow said his voice taking a bit of a growl and his brows furrowing in challenge. He had been jumped before from Shinji's friends outside of school for what he did to that bangs haired bitch. The last time it had been some faggot named Rose. He had dropped kick the Rose guy in the nuts while his friend with the strange star Afro watched on.

"You are different then I pictured you."

Grimmjow must have made a funny face as the orange haired boy's features lightened up. The boy's shoulders moving up and down in a stifled laugh, "…wait, what?"

"Well no offense but all of the rumours make you sound like a gorilla."

"What the fuck? A gorilla."

"Yeah a knuckle dragger."

"That's fucking brutal…"

"Kinda," said the boy a chuckle dancing on his soft looking lips, "but I don't really blame you."

"Really?" this was the first time anyone had taken his side for punching Shinji in the face. He didn't really know whether to be grateful or to run for the hills in case this man was just playing a game with him.

"Yeah," the boy continued, "Shinji likes to talk a lot and you clearly like to pop off. He had it coming for a while."

"Better be able to back up your words?" Grimmjow worded it differently making the boy smile a fraction

"Talk shit, get hit," the pair busted into pure laughter. It had been a while since Grimmjow had held a conversation with another individual who was around his age. Most of the students in his grade were afraid of him while others just didn't care enough to talk to him. The exception being Ulquiorra but he never really talked. This was nice, "how do you know my name?"

"We go to the same school," the man scratched his arm nervously choosing again to look away. This time in the direction of the two lifeguards who were idly chatting.

"So what's your name then? Ya seem ta know mine," _and you can actually pronounce my name_.

"Ichigo Kurosaki," Ichigo responded, there eyes meet again and Grimmjow can see the universe in them. Who is this kid? What secrets does he know?

"Like a strawberry?"

"No, please don't call me that either," said Ichigo as a scowl wiped away all traces of the blush that had been on his face. Looks like he hit a sweet spot on the berry, and Grimmjow being the asshole that he was, was about to milk that sweet spot for everything that it was worth.

"Can't promise ya that."

"I'm getting the hint that you're a bit of an asshole…"

"You would most certainly be correct," they laughed again as the mood lightened and Ichigo's glare disappeared from his face. Ichigo had begun gyrating his legs – one going clockwise the other counter – creating miniature whirlpools between he and Grimmjow, "so why aren't you in the water? Can't swim?"

"I can swim," Ichigo replied, his eyes concentrating on the mini water vortexes. A hint of a pink tongue darting along his lower lip, "I'm just not a huge fan of chlorine or water."

"So then why come ta the pool if ya can't swim?"

"I _can_ swim," Ichigo, repeated this time placing a little more emphasis on his words, "and I'm not too sure. It was something to do."

"I can teach ya how ta swim if ya want?"

A loud whistle blew startling the two boys as both pairs of eyes shot up to see one of the lifeguards pointing at an ugly little child, the water around it starting to turn purple. Without any hesitation Grimmjow hopped out of the water coming to stand beside Ichigo as the pair watched the chaos unfold. This is what the Gods must see when they unleashed a plague upon the world, watching it spread like wildfire. The muscle heads that had been fooling around sprung out of the water like little girls, a group of senior girls screamed as some of the purple touched their skin, a group of children started to splash each other with the water, and the ugly little shit that started it all had the most blank expression Grimmjow had ever seen.

The two boys were trying their hardest not to lose their shit all together as the lifeguards tried _their hardest_ to get all of splashing kids out of the water. Deciding that now was the best time to take their leave, Grimmjow followed Ichigo back to the change rooms – beating the stunned crowd that were still trying to wrap their minds around what had happened. Grimmjow quickly dried off throwing on his dry clothes and rushing out of the locker room as people begun to swarm. He was a little surprised to see that Ichigo had waited for him and was talking to the black haired girl at the front desk.

Ichigo had taken out his cellphone insisting that they exchange contact info once they had walked a little down the street. Grimmjow had complied – his parents had bought him the damn thing might as well use it for something. When they came to the intersection that lead to opposite ends of the town, they both parted ways giving empty promises of meeting up to go 'swimming' again. Grimmjow didn't have much faith that the boy would hold up his end of the promise.

It took him less time to get home than to get to the pool, possibly due to it being a downhill journey back home. Cutting through his front lawn, stopping to give Pantera a scratch on the head who had been hiding underneath dad's truck, he opened the door to be blasted by cold air. Mum had turned on the AC, thank all the Gods in every religion both past and present. He had been sweating his balls off the entire walk home. He was greeted by both his parents sitting on the couch watching an old action movie that looked like a knock-off of Godzilla.

"Hey blue how was the pool?" mum asked as she was in the midst of twirling her hair through her fingers, looking back and giving him an acknowledging smile. Dad did something that was more along the lines of a grunt…at least it was something.

"It was alright, kinda boring. Some shit head pissed in the pool," he answered. His dad gave a laugh at that, he'd probably never admit it out loud but the man loved a dirty potty mouth.

Before he could suffer the wrath of his mum chewing out his ear, he dipped down the hallway quickly closing the door to his room. After a few minutes of anxiously awaiting the scolding of a cop – none coming – he unzipped his bag taking out his wet swim trunks and heading to hang them up in the washroom. Back in his room he sat down at his desk taking out the pen and flipping open his journal to the page he had used last night.

 _July 10_ _th_ _…Part 2_

 _I think I made a friend today. His name is Ichigo but not spelt like a strawberry. He's got orange hair and freckles, so that probably makes him a ginger. No it most definitely makes him a ginger. He's something else. I guess he's nice, I'm not sure how his mind works though; who goes to a public pool and doesn't end up swimming? Whatever. Not my problem._

 _He actually talks too, unlike my other friend Ulquiorra, I'm not even sure he and I are friends come to think of it. Our meeting today was interrupted by some kid pissing in the pool, looks like that myth is true: the water actually does turn purple. But he promised to contact me if ever he goes back, I don' really think that's going ta happen though. Call me a pessimist._

 _I'm kind of running out of things ta say here so I guess that's all._

 _Note to self: Ichigo's eyes are cool, they aren't pretty, they aren't cute,_ _ **they**_ _ **are**_ _ **cool**_ _. Also learn to hide your journal better from your asswipe brother._

Grimmjow closed his journal and covered it in the comic books again then grabbed an old school textbook and placed that on top of them. There, nothing suspicious about all these books stacked together on his desk. Leaning back in his chair he turned his head to look out the window. Somehow the summer had taken a more positive spin and was looking to be at least enjoyable. _This must be what mum meant by seizing the summer_?

* * *

 **AN: so how did you guys like the first two chapters? I'm not sure where I got this idea/inspiration from to make this fic. I hope its at least wetted your appetite. Let me know what you think!**

 **-Yaks**


	3. Pissing in the Streets

**The update to progress the plot. Another chapter should be published soon enough**

* * *

-Pissing in the Streets-

* * *

 _Come on sugar, come_

 _I really don't want to go home_

 _Stay with me, be a fried_

 _These streets so cold and my mind is full of goals_

He watched as the blue haired boy turned down an unknown street, his eyes trailing down slowly to look at his phone, which was still open on his contacts' page. _Grimmjow Jaegerjaques_. The boy who punched Shinji Hirako right in the face, the boy who was supposedly bad news, the boy who enjoyed floating around in pools all day. The blue haired boy had wanted to teach him how to swim, even though Ichigo was more than capable of swimming, he still offered to teach him how to swim. What the hell had he gotten himself into?

Probably nothing very serious, the boy was nothing like what the rumours had said he was like. Definitely not a knuckle dragger with not brain and talking like an illiterate. Though they were right about one thing, the guy had some of the coolest blue hair he had ever seen. Ichigo thought that he had some colourful hair, damn had he ever been wrong. That hair was a beacon for trouble and was definitely the cause for why there were so many rumours about the kid. It was common knowledge that people with unique hair get their ass handed to them on a regular in Karakura.

Ichigo walked the rest of the way home thinking about the kind of day he had just had. He'd gone to the pool just to get out of the house and instead had actually enjoyed himself. When he finally got home one of his younger sisters was watering a yellow dandelion that was growing in-between the cracks in the cement of their walkway. Yuzu was an innocent soul that enjoyed cooking for whenever she could and doing her own laundry whenever she could, she was also indiscriminate with the flowers she liked. Weed or not, a flower was still a flower to her.

"Yuzu, why are you watering the dandelions again?" asked Ichigo as he kneeled down beside his sister who was having trouble with the large green watering pale.

Giving up on the pale she wiped her wet hands on the green sundress she wore, adjusting the large straw sunhat she wore so that she could see him better she responded, "because it's freakishly big."

Looking back down at the weed Ichigo had to admit that the yellow flower was a lot bigger than normal, "yeah you're right. But shouldn't that mean you should kill it?"

"Nah. Anything this freaky deserves to live."

"I guess that's one way of thinking," Ichigo commented more to himself than to his younger sister. The pair walked inside taking their shoes off before entering the house, "so what did you get up to today?"

"Not much. I washed the sliding door and helped dad sell a first aid-kit, I also watered the dandelion."

"Where's Karin?"

"She went to the park with Toshiro to play soccer with some of the other kids. I think the two wanted to take on everyone as a two man team, plus that other loud mouth…"

"The loud mouth…?"

"He lives with that candy shop guy. With the strange hat and the wood clogs."

"Jinta?"

"Yeah, the loud mouth," if there was one thing that Ichigo really loved about his sister it was that she didn't sugar coat anything. She would always say it how she saw fit. Especially when it came to describing people she wasn't very fond of, "they wanted him to be goalie."

"Why didn't you go with them?" asked Ichigo as they entered into the kitchen. Going to the fridge he took a large jug of water out and poured himself a glass. The pool had left him a bit thirsty and very hungry.

"I don't like playing soccer and Karin and Toshiro always get really competitive with each other," Yuzu spoke as she plucked skin from the palm of her hands. Something he had done since she was a toddler to keep herself distracted when talking to people. Though she never did it with anyone outside of the immediate family, "last time they argued Ururu got a ball to the face and almost suffered a concussion and a broken nose."

Making himself a quick peanut butter and banana sandwich, he pulled out the diary he had found in the trash today. Opening it up he read over the note that Anonymous had left for whoever found the diary, "what's that?"

"I found a diary today in the garbage."

"Weird," Yuzu's voice trailed off, the volume of it decreasing as she headed for her room upstairs, "dad's in the clinic, he should be back late tonight. We are on our own for supper again."

Taking his sandwich in his mouth, he walked up the stairs turning left down the hallway entering his fairly mundane room. There wasn't much special to his bedroom, he didn't spend much time in it unless he was sleeping or watching old movies both foreign and Japanese. Sitting down at his desk he flipped through some of the pages of the diary reading a few things that other people had left behind. Much of the ink had been smudged or sapped from the rain, while pencil had faired better. At least he could make out some of the words that had been scribbled down by strangers.

Some people had left quotes from famous people whose names Ichigo thought were familiar, others had left little poems that were both creative and simple. How many people had done this he didn't know but there was a common pattern that he was beginning to notice. There were always two different initials like two different people had completed the bucket-list. Even the quotes and poems were signed with two different initials. Great so it was a group activity thing, if he had known that he would've just left it in the garbage. Why was he even snooping in the garbage to begin with?

Taking out his phone he flipped through his contacts looking for a particular someone who he was on semi good terms with. Uryuu Ishida was the only people Ichigo knew who was in Grimmjow's class; he was also a very honest person so he'd give Ichigo a very, _very_ , honest answer. Tapping the name he sent a quick text asking him how his summer was going and whether he knew Grimmjow or not. It took the other a good twenty minutes to respond and when he did it was a four-word text.

 _Uryuu: What's it to you?_

Scowling Ichigo's fingers flew across the screen typing in his answer, _met him at the pool today. Was nice to me, you were in his class right?_

 _Uryuu: He's quiet and has weird hair. Keeps to himself and doesn't really talk._

Seeing as the conversation would probably go no further than this and that Uryuu would definitely not try and add anything else, Ichigo put away his phone plugging it in so that it wouldn't die on him. It was time to get settled back in, booting up his PC he plugged in the cord to his portable projector that his dad had gotten him as a gift. Opening a few files he chose one of the movies he had downloaded last night. _Cidade de Deus_ , City of God, a Brazilian movie based on two boys growing up in a dangerous neighbourhood of Rio de Janeiro who choose separate paths in life. It had taken him forever to find an actual readable Japanese sub version.

Ichigo couldn't stand anything that was dubbed, to him the voice actors sounded like they couldn't be bothered. He preferred the originality and authenticity of how the actors must have felt in the moment of shooting. Plugging in the speakers he spent the next two hours watching random people get shot and the struggle that the once two very close friends go through. By the time the movie had finished he had already chosen another to watch this time an English movie that had been given the title of a 'classic', Casablanca.

This one however did not hold his attention as much, yes it was good but his mind was on other things. Specifically a blue haired punk he had just befriended and gave his phone number too. Ichigo had a hard time of letting things go and would sometimes sweat the small details over and over in his head. His dad had told him he had a minor case of anxiety that wasn't much to worry over. This was the reason why he couldn't get the bluenette out of his head, he was thinking about what people would think if they saw him with Grimmjow.

The film ended with the main couple sitting in a tree watching the sun fall behind the Atlantic Ocean, all that he had really got from the movie was that he had no real interest in visiting Morocco. His house had gone still by the time Casablanca had ended, everyone probably asleep by now. Changing into some pyjamas he stepped out of his room only to almost step on a piece of saran wrapped pizza with a note on top of it.

 _Ichigo…_

 _Didn't want to disturb you, it sounded like you were watching something good. Here's some pizza, make sure you get out tomorrow if the sun is out, don't want to waste your summer inside watching movies do you?_

 _Father Man_

Picking up the pizza he placed it on his desk before heading to the washroom to brush his teeth and wash his face. Sliding into bed, sleep came to him surprisingly quickly tonight, as he hadn't realized just how tired he was until his eyes closed. The pizza lay on his desk untouched until the next morning.

It did not stop raining for the next two days making it very difficult for Ichigo to keep himself preoccupied. He'd manage to go through about a dozen different movies, progress quite nicely in the new Pokémon game he had purchased, and even managed to get some summer readings done. When the sun finally did decide to rise, it was too humid to do anything very productive and going to the swimming pool was out of the question. So Ichigo remained inside looking at his phone waiting for something to go off, he no longer cared who bugged him he wanted to be bugged. After two hours of just looking at his phone it was clear that no one was going to reach out to him.

Picking up the device he looked through his most recent contacts; Uryuu, Tatsuki, Orihime, and Grimmjow. The first person was not an option since Ichigo got the vibe that he wasn't well liked by the other. Tatsuki and Orihime were an option though those two were connected at the hips so wherever one went the other was sure to follow. He didn't have enough energy to deal with the two of them at the moment. So that left Grimmjow…fuck. Sure he had other friends he could reach out to but most had other things going on this summer.

Facing the inevitable Ichigo tapped Grimmjow's name bringing him to his contact page before tapping the phone icon. Three rings went by making Ichigo regret his decision every second, sure the guy was nice at the pool but making new friends wasn't Ichigo's favourite thing to do.

"Hello?"

Fuck he answered, trying not to sound like a complete idiot Ichigo responded, "hey! Grimmjow this is Ichigo Kurosaki…the kid you bumped into at the pool?"

"Yeah I remember you," Grimmjow spoke his voice sounding tired like he had just woken up, "what's up?"

"I was…" Ichigo began before he was cut off by a loud bang followed by an explosion of Yuzu's laughter. Goat Face must be home.

"What the heck was that?"

"Goat Face," Ichigo responded rolling his eyes at his childish father's antics.

"Goat Face?" laughter was heard on the other end before Grimmjow's voice came back to the speaker, "who the fuck is Goat Face?"

"My dad," Ichigo said as a chuckle played on his lips as well, "anyways I was wondering if maybe you'd want to hangout or something?"

"Kinda hot to be doing anything," Grimmjow answered honestly. He wasn't exactly lying since a lot of the weather channels were warning people to stay inside and keep near their ACs, "we could always go to the Quarry?"

The Quarry was an open pit that was dug on the outskirts of Karakura who knows how long ago and dug up for unknown purposes. The large pit had gradually filled with rain and snow water to become an artificial lake. It was generally a secret kept among the younger crowd but most people were aware of it however very few decided to visit it. Sounded like a good idea actually.

"That's a little far to walk."

"Don't worry I'll pick you up on my bike!" the boy's enthusiasm was evident and absolutely contagious and Ichigo felt himself become excited at the possibility of seeing the quarry for the first time.

"Okay do you know where Kurosaki Clinic is?"

"I think so…" Grimmjow responded, loud footsteps were heard as the boy moved from one room to the other. He shouted at someone in his home who seemed to give him the answer he was looking for, "yeah my ma' knows where it is. Didn't know you owned a walk in hospital?"

"It's not really a hospital…more like a family doctor."

"Still that's pretty dope."

"I guess," Ichigo got off his bed, grabbing one of his gym bags and throwing in a pair of swim trunks and a towel. He added the strange garbage diary as an after thought before he wandered off downstairs into the kitchen grabbing a large jug of Aloe Vera juice.

"I'll be there in like ten minutes."

As he waited for Grimmjow, Ichigo snatched a few snacks that he thought would hold the pair over on their adventure and his headphones. Somehow Grimmjow took less than ten minutes to get to the Clinic on his blue bike. A backpack sitting in the basket, a look that was a mixture between excitement and embarrassment plaguing the blue haired boy's face, and no helmets this was an adventure.

"So that took me less time than I expected."

"Yeah, I'm impressed Speed Racer," Ichigo teased noticing the blush grow on the other's face, "so where am I supposed to sit?"

"On the back of course."

Ichigo walked around to see where Grimmjow had been pointing to rack that hovered just above the back wheel, "is that even legal?"

"No but my mum's a cop so if we get polled over the 5-O won't bother us," Grimmjow responded with a sure look on his face. It was evident that the boy was very proud of his accomplishment.

"That's not very reassuring Blueberry," Ichigo teased walking towards the bike before sitting down on the rack. It was clear that this was going to be a rough journey on his ass as the damn rack was digging into his cheeks like it were a hungry animal, "well start pedaling Speed Racer, time's a wasting!"


End file.
